Richard Arenberg

Rich Arenberg teaches Congress and the Federal Budget and Congressional Leadership, Parties and Public Policy. He has also teaches several courses in the political science department at Brown.

Arenberg retired as the legislative director and deputy chief of staff to U.S. Senator Carl Levin (Michigan). He spent more than thirty-four years on Capitol Hill, including four years in the House and thirty years in the U.S. Senate. Arenberg has held senior positions for the late Senator Paul Tsongas (Massachusetts) and Senate Majority Leader Senator George Mitchell (Maine). He served on the Senate select committee to investigate the Iran-contra affair and helped Senator William Cohen and Senator Mitchell write Men of Zeal, a book detailing and analyzing those hearings. He was one of the principle negotiators and drafters of the Alaska National Interest Lands Act, which President Carter called “the most important piece of conservation legislation passed in the 20th Century.”

Arenberg has significant experience in intelligence matters, Congressional history, procedure, rules and protocol, and the role and impact of Congress on public policy.

Arenberg co-authored Defending the Filibuster: Soul of the Senate with Robert B. Dove, parliamentarian emeritus of the U.S. Senate, which was published by Indiana University Press in 2012. They were awarded a Congressional research award by the Dirksen Congressional Center in 2010. Defending the Filibuster was named “Book of the Year in Political Science” by Forewords Reviews. An updated version of the book will be published in January, 2015.

Arenberg is also an adjunct lecturer in political science at Northeastern University and adjunct lecturer in government at Suffolk University. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Social Security Works and served on the advisory board of the Strengthen Social Security Campaign, a member of the board of advisors of As America Ages, and a Senior Congressional Fellow at the Stennis Center for Public Service Leadership.